"You are about to proceed to South Africa yourself, and if--as I have no reason to doubt will be the case--you get some of our own people to go over the country of the late Republics with you, you will be able to judge for yourself whether the description of the ruin and desolation as given by myself and others of us was--nay, I might almost say, if it could be--exaggerated.... If your allusion to 'one or other of the belligerents' is meant to suggest that the destruction of houses was practised by us you have been misinformed. My orders were definite that no houses should be destroyed; I know of only four cases where the orders were contravened, and in those instances every endeavour was made to trace the perpetrators, and where known they were promptly punished." General Botha further stated that he had no definite information relative to the increase in the selling value of the land, but the figures quoted showed to any one who knew the country before the war the fearful loss which had taken place in cattle, sheep, and horses. He concluded:-- "I regret to have to dwell on these points, and have done so only to remove misunderstandings as to the grounds for our appeal for aid. I do not doubt your desire to restore peace and the elements of prosperity to our unhappy country, and I would wish that we might so far as possible avoid controversy as to the past, and address ourselves entirely to the necessities of the present." To this letter Mr. Chamberlain replied, on the 15th of November, as follows:-- "I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th of November, in reply to my comments on statements contained in the 'Appeal of the Boer Generals to the Civilised World,' and in their speeches on the Continent. "I appreciate the spirit of the last paragraph of your letter, and share the wish which you express therein, and in view of my approaching visit to South Africa I will not prolong the present correspondence. "I trust that during my tour I may gain much valuable information which will assist his Majesty's Government in their efforts to restore peace and prosperity to the countries which have suffered by the war." On the 18th of November, General Botha wrote the following answer:-- "I have to thank you for your letter of 15th instant, and wish only to say, in reply, that I cordially join in the hope that your visit to South Africa may be a step towards that restoration of peace and prosperity to our desolate country, which I am sure that it is your desire to promote." [Illustration]